Tropical sand mica

[Jaterwunky]

HEY GUYS RECEIVED NEW TROPICAL SAND MICA AND USED IT THIS A.M. WHEN ROLLED BEAD INTO IT, IT SMOKED UP MY STUDIO AND PRODUCED REALLY NOXIOUS FUMES....... ANYONE HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS ONE????
I HAVE NEVER HAD THAT KIND OF REACTION..... BEAD WAS WARM AND GLOWING.... WASN'T EVEN ABLE TO PUT INTO FLAME FUMES AND SMOKE OCCURED WHILE ROLLING BEAD IN POWDER.... POWDER WAS IN A TRIANGLE METAL FRIT PAN.......
ANY CLUES?????
sINCERELY,
DEB:wtf:

[shawnette]

Sounds like the Mica you got is not real mica.

[Jaterwunky]

That's what I am thinking.......

[PaulaD]

It is "real" mica. It's cosmetic grade mica and may need to be worked cooler. It should actually be safer than the usual mica sold to glass workers as that mica is paint pigment mica. I've tested all of the mica colors and none smoked like that but one did stink.
Paula

[SilverCreek Studio]

I would ask the people who make it or who you bought it from. Personally I would send it back.

[PaulaD]

I am the person that she she bought it from and she has been offered a return including shipping. I am going to retest that color as soon as I get to a torch.
Paula

[stacied]

That is scary! I would so never use a product that did that.

[glass addict]

Did you happen to get a MSDS with it? (material safety data sheet) If you did, check the ingredients section to see if there are other items mixed with the mica or if it has been coated with anything.

Mary

[Sue in Maine]

I am the person that she she bought it from and she has been offered a return including shipping. I am going to retest that color as soon as I get to a torch.
Paula

Paula,

I just want to say it is so REFRESHING to have a vendor jump in and fix something for a customer. Bless you... I am pleased to be one of your customers.

Sue

[PaulaD]

Thank You Sue!
Mary,
Yes it did come with MSDS sheets. I talked to the supplier this morning though and they think they may have just got a bum batch in. It comes in from either India or China so quality control in unknown. I am going to pull it off my website for now and retest all of the other colors myself.
Jaterwunky and I are cool. I'll be giving her a credit.
Paula

[pam]

We all should be very cautious what we put in the flame. There are lots of products that will give off noxious or even poisonous fumes. I applaud Paula for testing her products before she sells them, but be aware that, as she pointed out, quality control can be none at all and things can get into your product, just as baby food and pet food, that can be very dangerous in the flame.

[glass addict]

Paula,

If you still have it, I'm curious about the ingredient statement on the MSDS. (The chemist in me is curious!!)

Mary

[PaulaD]

Hi Mary. I'll have to find them. Right now they are not where I thought I put them! eta The package itself says "Safe for nails, skin, hair!"

Paula

[PaulaD]

We all should be very cautious what we put in the flame. There are lots of products that will give off noxious or even poisonous fumes. I applaud Paula for testing her products before she sells them, but be aware that, as she pointed out, quality control can be none at all and things can get into your product, just as baby food and pet food, that can be very dangerous in the flame.

I so agree. So now every time I refill I will retest the batch!
Paula

[PaulaD]

I'd like to get back to this and update every one. I tired to recreate what happpened to Deb and couldn't get much in the way of toxic fumes. I got a tiny bit of smoking on a screaming hot bead but even heating the bead to white hot I couldn't get smoking. I realize that we are all working on different torches but I got the bead as hot as I could on a Lynx. I did a little more sleuthing and found out that ths particular color was not imported which makes me think the manufacturing standards might be a little higher than what I first thought.
I then got the MSDS sheet for this color. It contained Mica, Iron Oxide, and Titanium Dioxide (the same stuff used in suntan lotion.) With the MSDS sheets in hand I contacted the ISGB safety guy and was told that this is all pretty benign stuff.
In much more technical terms of course.
So I am not going to pull the new mica's off the website. They are awesome colors! If I can find some extra time between now and next week I'll bag some up to take to the Gathering!
Remember to avoid breathing mica particles and use LEV (local exhaust ventilation!)
Paula

[Jaterwunky]

Paula was so over it.... She is the BOMB!!!!! I guess I am cursed...... Cause it does not like me...... Tears Tears......
Just so you guys know both time with the tropical sand I was not able to put the bead into the flame, it smoked when I rolled the bead into it.. That being said I transferred the powder to a plastic jar for storage... I am wondering if there was something in it to cause a reaction.... Either way, they don't like me so I won't be playing. Hope you all have more luck than I..... They do make very good body glitter.... Har Har...

[Listenup]

It is "real" mica. It's cosmetic grade mica and may need to be worked cooler. It should actually be safer than the usual mica sold to glass workers as that mica is paint pigment mica. I've tested all of the mica colors and none smoked like that but one did stink.
Paula

This always makes me nervous when the topic comes up. I walk away quite often from the other thread here that I should comment in, but I'll just start with this one.

The reason it makes me nervous to hear cosmetic grade mica used in the same terms as the mica lamp workers use. You may be able to find a few that will work but shouldn't make the assumption that they will across the board. I think that the mica grind in the cosmetic mica is ground much smaller. It has to be so that it won't scratch your cornea when used in eye shadow. My big fear is that if we do not make a clear distinction as to which should be used and why, someone's going to pick up the pearlex, use it for eyeshadow, get some in their eye and scratch their cornea.

Then they start adding in all of those other ingredients to make it pretty and fluffy and give it great color. Do we know if these other ingredients have been chosen for what we do and the hight temps we do them in?

I can tell you something for a fact. Every time I've seen a cosmetic with lots of sparkle and shine and used it on a bead I've gotten dark ash. Last time I even splurged and spent a bunch of money on those "natural" cosmetics. I can show you a whole drawer full of pretty colored shadows that just wouldn't work and have decided I'll no longer spend money for something that is a hit or miss.

Now if you or a vendor want to try out unknown powders to see if they'll work, choose carefully and take notes for the rest of us. I would also suggest putting some of the powder into a jar with a lit that fits on tight and use the powder as it sits in the jar. Once the powder is in the air it can and is combustible. And for heaven sakes, if you to use it out of the jar, don't shake up the jar to make the powder fluffy and then immediately take the lid off and use it. You will get a "poof". At least give it a few moments to settle.

[PaulaD]

Kay these are basic mica's that I am selling. They can be used in eye shadows and are very elemental but they are also sold for glass workers. I've run the ingredients past the ISGB safety guy (Who knows more about chemistry and hot glass than anyone I know) and he said they are safe. Most ingredients are just mica and then an elemental oxide color. A few have titanium dioxide. I've tested them and they do not turn to ash. The "powder " doesn't become combustable in the air either. They are no more powdery than any other glass mica's that have been on the market for years. If they turned to ash I wouldn't be selling them. I think you may have tried the actual cosmetic or something other than what I am selling. A lot of mica's that vendors have been seeling for years are this same thing with out this much disclosure. Of course you don't want to put any tiny mica particle in your lungs and its a always a good idea to wear a respirator for lung protection especially when sprinkling mica, fine frit, or enamel on your bead.
Paula

[2tumblingdragonz]

Can pearl ex be used with soft or warm glass in the flame or just applied afterward and etched in?
Thanks
Angel Blessings
Rowyn

[Listenup]

I always apply mine while the bead I've made is hot - I roll it directly in the flame. The powders can even be encased with molten glass.

[glass addict]

Some random info...

I'm a paint chemist and we use all sorts of micas every day and there are lots of cross overs between the mica that goes in the paint on your car and what's in your eyeshadow. Some micas are surface treated wih materials that make them more resistant to weathering. Some micas are treated with materials that alter the original color.

Regards,
Mary

[PaulaD]

I did test one that looked gorgeous this week and had a lot of glitter in it but it went up in flames at the torch! LOL!! Won't be selling that one! It was not a lampworker mica but I wanted to see what would happen!! It went into the trash!!
Paula

[2tumblingdragonz]

I'm curious who's tried pearlex, it says it's nontoxic and just mica and pigment.
Namaste
Rowyn

[Listenup]

I have. Here:
http://www.listen-up.org/kitty/beads/pearl/charts.htm

[glvz]

I have trued Pearl-ex micas but didn't expend the effort that Kay did. The colors that I tried either smoked or went to ash on the beads so I decided very quickly not to continue the effort. Have used some of the micas that Paula carries and have been happy with them.

[2tumblingdragonz]

Wow, Kay, that is an impressive report. Thank you for posting that. Last night I tried bare mineralsdiamond gossamer face and body color. It is mica(cl77891), titanium dioxide(cl77891), bismuth Oxychloride(cl77163), diamond powder. I first used it on medium red on the outside and right into the kiln. Some of it stuck, some of it rubbed off when I took it out just now. But it is still somewhat glittery. The other I used the same red and encased with clear. That worked. IOW it didn't burn off. I need to clean and then see if I can even get a clear picture and then learn how to post a pic but I think it's the diamond powder that made it work. I don't use it as a cosmetic, I tested high in bismuth after using bare minerals several years back so I stopped using cosmetics. I'm glad I can use it in beads. I put it in a little triangle metal bead holder, I didn't dip into the jar. It didn't flare and burn like some of the other descriptions and the gold leaf that I got at Michaels.
Faerie Lights
Rowyn

[Carolyn M]

Are you sure the gold leaf you got at Michaels is real gold leaf?

[2tumblingdragonz]

LOL...NO!!! It says gold leaf, but it burns right up. It can leave a little bit of mottled metallic 'residue', but the gold leaf itself is gone in a whisper. I looked once for the gold leaf info here in the forum but couldn't find it, I need to use google. I tried to follow directions from some of the books I have but it didn't work out too well.

I have one sheet of gold leaf that I got from Howaco, but I'm saving that until I read and know what I'm doing. Then I'll have something to compare it to because I know if it's from Howaco it's the real deal (at a great price to boot)!!!

Love, Light, Health
Rowyn

[Listenup]

The stuff from Michael's is not real gold leaf - as you've found out. They get away with it by calling it "composition gold leaf (http://www.michaels.com/Mona-Lisa-Gold-Leaf-Kit/cp0394,default,pd.html?cgid=products-craftpainting-mediumsandvarnishes&start=2)".

The stuff from Howaco is real.

[2tumblingdragonz]

I don't have the metal leaf, I have what they claim is real gold leaf. what I'm thinking is it's a really low karat. I threw away the package, otherwise I'd call the company. I have the other composite stuff in my scrapbooking stuff.
As I've learned with other things.....careful what I buy from huge chain craft stores...